(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to removing compressed and/or compacted soft bulk materials stored in a silo bin and the like and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a silo bin drill system and method of unclogging compressed and/or compacted bulk grain and feed material that is hung up in the silo bin.
(b) Discussion of Prior Art
In the agriculture business, the clogging of bulk grain and feed material in large silo bins is a common problem. The unclogging of the material is time consuming, labor intensive, and expensive. Also, when a workman tries to work on top of the clogged material in the bin or through an access opening in the bottom of the bin there is a real danger to the individual. Also, over a period of time, moisture in the material migrates downwardly in the clogged material further compressing and solidifying the material making it more difficult to be unclogged. Further, the weight of the upper material in the bin compressing together the lower material adds to the problem of clogging. Also, natural dew point causes bin walls to sweat thereby increasing humidity and weight in clogged material.
Currently in the United States and Canada, engineering service companies are on call for drilling a series of vertical bore holes downwardly in the clogged material. With sufficient holes and using a spinning whip, hopefully the hung up material will break loose and gravity feed out the bottom of the bin. This type of grain drilling service takes two to three days or more and at a large expense to the silo bin owner.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,478 to Fujiwara et al., a system for crushing and discharging caked granular material in a storage tank is disclosed. A vertical guide hole is drilled downwardly through the caked material using compressed air. A crusher with crushing blades is then used for crushing the caked material around the periphery of the guide hole and discharging the material down the guide hole.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,186 to Holdren et al., a portable tool is described for digging out clogged silage in a silo. The dig out tool is used horizontally and received through an access opening in a lower portion of an outer wall of silo.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,447 to Brusseau, a caked grain breaker is illustrated. The grain breaker is hydraulically operated and includes a top grate positioned above an opening in the bottom of the bin floor. A plurality of spikes are mounted above the grate. The spikes are used for breaking apart the caked grain as it is received on the grate.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,220,494 to Cannon et al., an underground hard rock raise drilling method is disclosed. In a mining operation, a small pilot hole is drilled downwardly from an upper level to a lower level, typically one hundred yards or more. A raise cutter head, having a diameter in a range of 40 inches, is then attached to a drill pipe received through the pilot hole. The raise cutter head is then hydraulically raised cutting a large diameter bore hole or “raise shaft” through the rock. The raise shaft is used for ventilation, a rescue shaft, drainage and the like. Obviously, this type of a hard rock boring system is far removed from cleaning out soft clogged bulk material stored in a silo bin.
The subject silo bin drill system and method of cleaning clogged bulk material provides unique features, objects and advantages over the prior art drills and method of unclogging bulk storage material described in the above mentioned prior art patents.